The money laundering charges levelled against former Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu have been cleared by the court.
According to The PUNCH, Magu and one Pastor, Emmanuel Omale, of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry and his wife, Deborah, were accused of the money laundering charges.
Omale and his wife were accused of aiding the former anti-graft agency boss in laundering ₦573 million to purchase a building in Dubai.
However, in a judgment on Tuesday, following a suit marked: FCT/HC/CV2541/2020, filed by Omale, his wife and the church, Justice Yusuf Halilu exonerated Magu of money laundering.
An investigation by Justice Isa Salami-led presidential investigation panel revealed that the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit alleged that Magu paid the sum of ₦573m into Omale’s church account to purchase a property in Dubai.
The presiding judge, Justice Halilu, however, vetted that the evidence before his court showed that Omale’s bank admitted error in its report to the NFIU, of entries in Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account.
Justice Halilu further held that the bank claimed that the purported ₦573m was wrongly reflected as a credit entry in Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded.
He noted that the bank admitted the error, which occasioned incalculable damage to the reputation of Pastor Omale, his wife, and their church both within and outside the country.
